What About It

You've got to be kidding me. I've seen it all now. Again, I say, it's a buncha double-talk.

I heard a Christian psychologist on the radio today quoting a verse from Psalms where God says He'll teach you things during the night. This guy said he often asks his clients about their dreams because there's a lot more to them than just nonsense. He says it can be God teaching you things about life. Does anyone know what verse this guy is talking about and if so, if that is the true meaning?

Oh, so true. True freedom is in Christ Jesus. John 8:36 says that the son makes you free indeed. It isn't The Way that makes you free, it's the son. My contention is that The Way cannot give freedom to a person or even teach it to them because The Way does not know who Jesus Christ is today or how he functions today. All The Way can do is get a person born again and then bring them into their "flock" of bondage. The Way has set their own ministry up in the place of Jesus Christ, and this will only bring bondage to a person, not freedom. If you want freedom, get to know Jesus Christ. That doesn't take The Way. I think The Way is even more anti-Christ than some of the things they taught were anti-Christ.

Nice. Times like this, GSC needs a Like button.

In common: All were named in the All3n lawsuit. ( And to P@ul and F3rn, I'd like to say, thank you for exposing the secrets of twi. You did us all a favor. I hope you're living happily somewhere.) All are provided for by the way ministry and probably will be for the rest of their lives. All are rotten to the bone. All have a conscience seared with a hot iron. How am I doing? GT, are you ever going to tell us the answer to your question? Or at least the answer that you had in mind?

I just found this thread and I have to play b/c I love games and music. But, how do you play without cheating and looking up the lyrics on the internet? (or is that allowed? )

My favorite one-liner used to get someone to sign the green card (class registration card): "Look, you're the one who's f*ed up, not me." Spoken not by me but by a WC person I knew very well. I don't think her line worked. RE: Date and Switch, and horizontal witnessing: One guy in a branch I was in would date women all the time and witness to them. If they ended up not taking the class, he'd $cr3w them. Um, if I were a gambler, I'd bet that he got more sex than he got class registrations.

Oh, I can't resist. Let's talk about the former "interim" year for a sec. Mine was spent on staff at Camp Gunnysack in the food disservices department. (Actually the food was pretty good when I was there, and we really tried to have enough for seconds. I heard the food really when downhill when some tightwads started "overseeing" the budget and whittled it down to skin and bones--yuk!) An interim year on staff was another way to say prostitute yourself for the ministry. For a whopping $150 per month, my fellow WC brother and I (a fellow GSCer--love ya, man!) worked our arses off about 70 hours a week. Yep, 70 hrs. In 6 days, because it's the commandment of the Lord to take one day off. So that's right around 300 hours a month, for $150, or 50 Cent an hour, that's right 50 Cent. A song is playing in my brain: "We're in it for the love not the money........"

Agree with everyone, 100% and more. I think it's another technique the way uses to isolate people from any ties whatsoever outside of the way so that people become so entrenched in the ministry that they almost cannot leave it. Some of us on GSC were in that group for 20+ and maybe even 30+ years. How hard was it to leave? My husband and I considered it for a long time before we actually took the plunge and left. And that was only the beginning of the cult-recovery process, because we believed the $h!t like this: spiritual family has stronger ties than earthly family. Trust me on this: your earthly family will be there for you much longer than your spiritual family of twi if you happen to think for yourself or, God forbid, have a differing opinion. In most circles, that's a healthy thing: it's called debate and it spurs productive thought. Not in the so-called spiritual family of twi, where everyone must think the same thing.

What? You don't see the asset in having an Associate of Theology degree? hahaha ... my certificate is so valuable that it's in the attic in a bin just waiting there for when I have the time to recycle it ... into a firepit, or a craft project, or ... any other ideas?

Yes, you understand this correctly. And you're right, his dad is not a fan of Rozilla either. He def. wasn't happy with his UK assignment. I don't think the butt-kissers are preparing a coup, nor do I think the current BOD would demand that she step down. She has surrounded herself with yes men--and anyone who has ever expressed an opinion that differed from hers has been removed from their positions: Pl@tig, M!ttl3r, McF@dd3n. Rupp I'm sure will continue to do well in his position because he has never had an opinion of his own--only that which was told him by his leadership, to which he said Yes Sir, Yes Maam. She is setting up (or maybe already has?) a new director/officer system which will give her excathedra power up until she goes to her grave, whether retired and living large in NC or still in NK. By then, she'll have set up other yes men (or b!tch3s, as I like to say) as directors so that she'll have done all in her power to ensure that the ministry remains as Vic had it/wanted it.

Ham, it's REAVA. You can google Chip Reava and find some links to where he's teaching. He's a speech pathologist. His kids must be about 15 and 17 or so now. When I left CO in 1999, the girls were about 4 and 6 or 7, if I remember right. Great family. Loved them alot. They were some of the very few people who were good to me in CO. Here's Chip's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1848075559

This is my first Doctrinal post, and I'm full of more questions about the Bible than opinions at this stage of my personal cult-recovery process (out 2 years now). One of the hardest things about leaving the way (aside from your entire social network being completely shut down because now even your best friends won't associate with you) is the lingering questions about the Bible: is this true? is that true? I know this was what I was taught in the way, but now I don't know if anything is true. So I thought I'd start with a basic question, so that I can get some input. Was Adam really created about 6,000 years ago, according to Ussher's dates? That's what they way taught, so I always thought the scientific carbon dating and other methods were way out to lunch. Now I have to ask myself, Is that true? So, Doctrinal readers, I'm asking you instead. Is that true? What other doctrines are out there on this topic? or does anyone really know? I guess a part 2 to this question would be, what about the dinosaurs? Were they around in the "first heaven and earth" as VP taught?

Wow, I had no idea they did that. What a life-changing moment that was. You're better off for it. You know you're in a cult when you decide to stop going to church and no one will associate with you anymore--not even family. What a terrible thing that was. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but on the bright side, look how much better off you are now, since you left the cult behind. Hooray for you! You know it chaps their arse when people leave and really end up doing better than when they were in.

Were they pocketing the ABS from the people who gave? Def. doesn't add up. BTW, last I heard about the "believe to live abundantly on a genuine need basis" thing--they were considering taking out "genuine need basis." I think the nuts and bolts of this was that the staff supposedly weren't paid on a need basis anymore--as if they ever really were. I mean, when you tell them what you need, and then they say that's too much, you'll get this much instead, then you're not really living on a need basis anyway, are you?

Not only were some of the work projects dangerous but let's talk for a sec about some of the activities in the WC program. When I went LEAD, we hiked along a trail along the edge of a mountain, and at one point there was a huge boulder in the way. We had huge, heavy backpacks on and had to hug this boulder to stay on the trail. One slip and we would have plunged down a cliff about 100 feet or so. I couldn't believe we had to do this, but oh so thankful that no one fell and died. How about snowmobiling? Gunnison has several snowmobiles that the incarcerated WC are "privileged" to ride once in a blue moon each year. One year, some guy was going way too fast through a narrow opening between a fence and hit the fencepost. The driver, the guy, turned out okay, the the girl, his passenger, got pretty messed up. She was in the hospital for days and was lucky to be alive (although you can't say "lucky" in the way). Another year, back when they had hitchhiking across the country as part of LEAD, some people were riding in a truck when the driver crashed. The girls got messed up bad. One time a big guy (over 200 lbs.) was assigned to a top bunk and during the night he fell out and broke his arm. These are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head. That program is just waiting to get shut down, doncha think?

Waysider, you crack me up!

They're all liars and cheaters and scandalous sex workers who can deceive as if it's their very nature. Oh, just don't get me started.

When I was in residence, I received a package from my dad. He had stuffed the box with newspaper for packing material. I pulled out the comics and started reading them. One was particularly funny, so I took it with me and started showing it to others who were free-will incarcerated with me. At a work break one day I was talking with my corps coordinator and I showed it to her too. She of course dutifully reproved me on the spot and told me that this was secular material.

APB for Larry Brumback. He was from Kansas and went WOW (with ME!) in Minneapolis in 91-92. Anyone? Anyone?

Does anyone know Chuck Jefferson, who was from Rockford? I was a WOW with him in Oklahoma and loved his great heart and easy-going manner.

Oh, Katrina was in my first Twig in Boise, the second year I was in the ministry. small world!

JavaJane, and shortfuse, I agree: excellent analysis. As I say, buncha doubletalk. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Oh, just don't get me started. It's not going to be pretty.

I was on staff and on WIC and Medicaid too, as well as another state-sponsored medical assistance program. Most of the people on these programs don't have jobs...if that gives you any clues as to how low the pay is. It's so pitiful that I'm torn between laughing and crying. In fact, I know someone who was on staff and suddenly got a very serious medical problem that required lots of hospitalization and other stuff. They intentionally changed him from full-time staff to volunteer staff just so he could get and keep Medicaid and other gov't health plans to pay his bills. That's a great health plan, huh? Let's hear it for the Wise Ones on the Bird of Dictators for coming up with God's plan to take care of the staff in that mess.